This painting reminds me of Richard Hunter from Ragged Dick by Horatio Alger. Richard Hunter starts off on the lowest step of the socio-economic staircase, and uses hope to guide his journey to find a better place in society. The combination of many lucky societal encounters and the belief in himself results in the apprehension of the necessities of life, and an education. The “Newspaper Boy” in this painting is the picture I saw when I thought of Richard Hunter walking around New York. This painting also depicts the struggle that people endure when they set out on a mission to better their life, which is an underlying theme in most of the books we read this year. It reminds me of Jay Gatsby, the Joads, and the characters in Beloved as well.
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